Powering The Economy Through Sustainable Energy For All

Oct. 15, 2015, 5:30 am

By KAREN KANDIE

let there be light: Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua and DP William Ruto look on as President Uhuru Kenyatta commissions the Last Mile Connectivity project at Katulu S.A. Primary School, Tala in Machakos county on May 27.

Of
all the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, goal seven which strives to “ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern
energy for all” by year 2030 is perhaps the most pragmatic. This is
one of the goals that was not in the Millennium Development Goals that paved
way to the SDGs.

The
goal follows the declaration of 2012 the “International Year of Sustainable
Energy for All” by the UN. To sustain the momentum, it was followed by the
announcement of 2014 to 2024 as the “Decade of Sustainable Energy for
All” and the launch of the Sustainable Energy for All, SE4ALL initiative.

The
energy goal encompasses three objectives whose aims are to ensure universal access to modern energy services - including
electricity and clean, modern cooking solutions, to double the global rate of
improvement in energy efficiency and to double the share of renewable energy
in the global energy mix.

Access
to affordable energy is more or less a proxy for development, with the path to
development catalysed by energy. It is therefore not a surprise that the 20
largest energy consumers account for 80 per cent of the primary energy
consumption. China and the United States are
the two largest consumers accounting for 40 per cent of the total.

The second objective of doubling the global
rate of improvement in energy efficiency will therefore be largely dependent on
these 20 countries.

The
global challenge of meeting the three objectives will require bold policy
measures, combined with a regulatory environment that supports innovation and
encourages investments in the sector.

Global statistics on energy show that while 83 per cent of the world has electricity, an
estimated 1.2 billion people live without electricity of which 51 per cent are
concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa. In fact in some sub-Saharan countries, Kenya included, many people in rural areas have never seen electric
light, leave alone imagining that they can use electricity power! For such
people, they only hear stories that in the towns, you touch something in the
wall and the room lights up and may associate this with witchcraft or magic!

When it comes to cooking, 59 per cent of the world
uses non-solid fuel while 2.8 billion people primarily rely on solid fuels with
25 per cent of them concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa.

In
fact, among the 20 countries with the lowest access to electricity, 12 of them
are in SSA. More significantly however,
it is only in SSA where the rate of progress on energy access was below the
population growth between 1990 to 2010.
Ethiopia, South Africa and Nigeria are the only three countries in SSA
that make the list of the top twenty with
the greatest annual increases in access to electricity during this the period although others in the wider Africa include Egypt and Morocco.

Needless
to say, if the trends observed in the last two decades continue,
particularly in SSA, the universal access objective in the SDG would not be
met.

According
to the International Energy Agency the achievement of universal access will
require an average annual investment of $45 million, up-scaled from $9
million estimates of 1990. Of this
amount, more than 60 per cent would have to be invested in SSA, with developing Asia
taking another 30 per cent. The universal access
to modern cooking solutions would require a global investment of $4.4
million, most of it in sub-Saharan Africa.

That
said, the potential is immense and the challenge remains how to capture and
utilise it in a cost effective manner. Most developing countries are located along the solar belt, with great
solar energy potential. At least 75 per cent of
the worlds unexploited potential in hydropower is located Africa, Asia, and
South America; regions that need it most.

Local statistics show marked improvement in access to energy with the total
population having electricity in Kenya increasing from 11 per cent to 23 per cent in the two
decades from 1990 to 2010. This is however 60 per cent below the global average of 83 per cent.
By 2010, 71 per cent of the urban population and eight per cent of the rural population had access
to electricity. Besides, while the urban access may appear impressive, its
reliability for industry and affordability are barriers to its ability to power
the economy. Standby generators are a
standard norm for many industries to weather the frequent power outages,
significantly affecting the cost of production.

That the country is not among the fasted
growing in terms energy access means much more could be done. For many people,
it is time to translate the chapters on policies, promises, TV and newspaper
advertisements and towering billboards to kilowatt hours for real people.

Several barriers stand in the way of access to
electrification. Having a realistic energy access strategy that is mainstreamed
into the nation’s overall development and budget process will be
important. A high level of commitment
from the political leadership is equally important. Also important is a robust financial sector that
can provide financing at affordable rates and a legal and regulatory framework
that encourages investment.

Some
countries made the hard decisions of lowering energy costs through innovative
solutions with the objective of ensuring low productions costs so as to
penetrate the international markets. These countries have made significant
progress and their products now have sizeable markets in the global arena. It is possible for Kenya to prioritise energy
and actively encourage investment in innovative solutions that will not only
accelerate the uptake of power but make it cost effective. If the Jua Kali
metal fabricator can access power at lower cost, then he can sell the metal
door at lower cost. If this is replicated in the product destined for exports,
the final products will be more competitive and soon we shall be seeing Made
in Kenya more common in the global markets.